London's National Gallery will soon be opening an exhibition of the painter Gentile Bellini, who travelled from Venice to Constantinople in 1480 to do a portrait of Mehmed the conquerer. Turkish author Orhan Pamukwrites of this portrait of the sultan, which is considered one of the most important icons of Turkish history today (and not only because of the sultan's long and crooked nose), "The Islamic prohibition against painting, the particular fears about portraits and ignorance about what was happening in portraiture in Renaissance Europe, meant that Ottoman artists did not and could not make portraits of sultans that were this true to life. But this caution towards a human subject's distinguishing features was not confined to the world of art. Even the Ottoman historians, who wrote a great deal about the military and political events of their age, were disinclined to think or indeed write about their sultans' defining features, their characters, or their spiritual complexities - though there was no religious prohibition against doing so."

Le point, 06.04.2006(France)

In a commentary on the protests against the labour market reforms, historian and critic Nicolas Baverez concludes that the conflict has only generated "defeats": the political duo de Villepin and Chirac, the reform, the public debate and the protesting students and youth. "Defeated are the young demonstrators who, even if they were able to accomplish a retraction of the CPE, would not in fact achieve anything towards reducing the desperation of their generation, which justifiably sees itself as lost and which is faced with two choices: the more talented (more than a million) go abroad or enter the civil service, the rest accept social demotion, exclusion or criminality. It's tragically ironic that their protest, marked by a fear and demonisation of liberalism, targets primarily the instruments of their emancipation and strengthens the safeguarding of those 'insiders' who are shutting them out."

The New Yorker, 17.04.2006(USA)

After Seymour M. Hersh's exposure of the conditions in Abu Ghraib in 2004, he is now investigating American plans for a confrontation with Iran. In his carefully documented article, he quotes a senior diplomat in Vienna: "This is much more than a nuclear issue. That's just a rallying point, and there is still time to fix it. But the Administration believes it cannot be fixed unless they control the hearts and minds of Iran. The real issue is who is going to control the Middle East and its oil in the next ten years."

Outlook India, 17.04.2006(India)

Having read Amartya Sen's collection of essays, "Identity and Violence," Shuddhabrata Sengupta comes to the conclusion that identity and pluralism can compliment each other. According to Sengupta, Sen designs a "non-solitarist" self, which possesses special social competences. "This 'solitarist' notion of identity creates guided missiles of the self that keep hitting the same target. Thus, the contemporary Muslim or Hindu or Christian is shorn (by others and in many cases by himself) of any possibilities other than those underwritten by what Sen calls 'Civilisational Incarceration'..... He patiently argues a case for an appreciation of the Islamic world's contribution to science, technology, doubt, the freedom of thought and reason as a necessary countermeasure to the univocal registers of the theses of the 'Clash' and 'Dialogue' of Civilisations."

Clarin, 08.04.2006 (Argentina)

"We need a new Luther, but it's not me." The Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo, newly arrived in Buenos Aires to inaugurate a new chair in Ethics and Cultural Studies, talks about the tricky relationship between religiosity and democracy. "It's obvious that our democratic life needs religiosity and until today, integration within a society seemed to be guaranteed as long as it shared a common religion. But is that not a myth? My impression is, to the contrary, that differences are necessary. I'm convinced that democracy would benefit from agreeing on the primacy of loving thy neighbour, a principle which shows us how to see the other as an other and not simply a reduction of ourselves. Plato was very pre-occupied with the question of unity or variety but he never explained why unity should be better than variety. Why, may I ask, should unity be better?"

Polityka, 06.04.2006 (Poland)

"You're
lucky: you don't have a building, a collection, or employees". This is
what Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate Gallery, is supposed to have
said when he heard about the project for a museum for contemporary art in Warsaw. For Piotr Sarzynski one thing is clear: "Despite many advisory committees being appointed and the location being settled on across from the Stalinist cultural palace
in the centre of the capital, there are still more questions than
answers." Construction is to start next year, and it's still unclear
whether "modern" or "contemporary" art will be shown, and how a
permanent exhibit will be assembled at all, as not even Polish museums
are willing to relinquish exhibits. Despite the many unanswered questions, Sarzynski hopes for one thing: "The museum must present and confront
everything that happens in the areas of theatre, music, design, posters
and even advertising, architecture, fashion and lifestyle."

Magyar Hirlap, 05.04.2006 (Hungary)

Young theatre directorArpad Schillingexamines the role of politicaltheatre in democracies. "Up to 1989, the situation was clear: theatre was aimed at either criticising the political system or entertainment. The resistance
expressed on stage struck a chord with the public because it was aimed
against a particular power of which they were all victims: the actors
and the public alike. The theatres were full because actors put their
whole hearts into their performances. The enemy was lying in wait
outside. It was a joint battle; a joint theatrical experience... Today,
we no longer have a common enemy. We are our own enemies.
Politicians tell us that there are divides, different goals, common
enemies, but two years after joining the EU any sensible person has
realised that there are no alternatives in the fundamental issues. The
only question is which demagogy will get you into power."

DU, 10.04.2006 (Switzerland)

To mark the tenth anniversary of the Steps dance festival,this edition
of the magazine is dedicated entirely to dance. Camille Schlosser tells
the story of a boy who was once allowed to take ballet lessons. "School
ended at 4 pm, and ballet lessons started at 5. So in between the boy
played soccer with his schoolmates in the school yard. Then he would
cycle over the bridge to the ballet school, where the perfumed young
dancers would comment on the sweaty young soccer player. 'Here comes
old stinko again', the little tutu-girls would chuckle behind the
paravent. To avoid hearing more comments after the class, the boy would
often pull his shirt and trousers on over his dance clothes, change his
shoes and run out to his bike. Once his underwear fell out of his bag,
and a man ran after him saying 'Vous avez perdu votre slip!' 'Non',
said the boy, running away. Why French of all languages was spoken in
this moment of carelessness is a mystery."

L'Espresso, 13.04.2006 (Italy)

Umberto Eco is amazed at the many contradictions that make up modern life. "For example I would point to the global mobilisation of antiglobalists,
armed peace and humanitarian intervention (a series of bellicose
altruistic actions). And then there are also the programmes of the
Berlusconi's new allies, the left-wing fascists. Then you have the extraordinarily contradictory clerical atheists like Marcello Pera and Giuliano Ferrara. Not to forget Ã¢â¬â even if we're entirely used to them Ã¢â¬â artificial intelligence and the electronic brain (as if the brain were really that soft something we have in our skulls)."

Gazeta Wyborcza, 08.04.2006 (Poland)

Journalist Adam Leszczynski takes a critical look at the "history policy", a new strategy of Poland's conservative government to strengthen patriotism
and highlight the glorious chapters in the country's history. "The
advocates of this idea see a reconciliation with Poland's neighbours Ã¢â¬â
Jews, Germans, Ukrainians Ã¢â¬â as a danger to national interests. The
consequence can only be: we are surrounded by enemies, and enemies must
be fought." For Leszczynski, the policy is also an answer to the image
of society put forward by the Left: "History just has to be dissected
to match one's goals, and today that's being done by the Right."

The Times Literary Supplement, 07.04.2006 (UK)

Zinovy Zinik is astonished at Daniel Kalder's"Lost Cosmonaut", the report of a journey to the "most boring, bleak and bloated landscapes" of the former Soviet Union: "Tatarstan and Kalmykia,
Mari El and Udmurtia are huddled more or less together near the lower
regions of the River Volga, somewhere between the Azov and Caspian
seas, in the South-Eastern part of Russia. These little republics came
into existence due to the rigorously pursued Soviet policy of
multiculturalism. This sometimes involved mass deportation and
forced assimilation before they were granted nominal independence; it
also entailed the provision of a fictitious, artificially created or
revamped ethnic culture, with an obligatory state theatre in
each capital city where plays were performed in a no longer understood
language, a local history museum in which nobody remembered the
significance of the exhibits; and, in public squares, ubiquitous
statues of national poets and heroes whom no one respected. It is 'a
whole other Europe, a shadow Europe that might as well not exist for all we Westerners care. In fact, it doesnÃ¢â¬â¢t exist for us'."

L'Express, 06.04.2006 (France)

Scientist, author and former Mitterand advisorJacques Attalireflects in a short essay on the Sudoku phenomenon. The addictive numbers game says much about who we are, he writes: "It is the global game par excellence:
no language ability is required, not even any knowledge of mathematics
or arithmetic, as the numbers can be replaced by letters. It's
also a many-sided game, perfect for when you're out and about and ideal
for 'nomadic objects' like boards or mobile phones. And it's a game for
individuals, affording them the calming pleasure that comes with
concentration and problem solving. And perhaps above all, it is also
very revealing about the basic fear underlying our societies: the fear of disorder and emptiness.
Sudoku gives you the opportunity to create order, to put everything in
its place and escape the confusion of reality. The game is evidence
of what we are threatened with becoming: an conglomeration of egoists,
autists, timorous conservatives, seeking to escape the world in a virtual realm of numbers."

Tuesday 27 March, 2012

The Republicans are waging a war against women, the New York Magazine declares. Perhaps it's because women are so unabashed about reading porn in public - that's according to publisher Beatriz de Moura in El Pais Semanal, at least. Polityka remembers Operation Reinhard. Tensions are growing between Poland and Hungary as Victor Orban spreads his influence, prompting ruminations on East European absurdity from both Elet es Irodalom and salon.eu.sk. Wired is keeping its eyes peeled on the only unassuming sounding Utah Data Center.read more

Tuesday 20 March, 2012

In Telerama, Benjamin Stora grabs hold of the Algerian boomerang. In Eurozine, Slavenka Drakulic tells the Venetians that they should be very scared of Chinese money. Bela Tarr tells the Frankfurter Rundschau and the Berliner Zeitung that his "Turin Horse", which ends in total darkness was not intended to depress. In die Welt, historian Dan Diner cannot agree with Timothy Snyder's "Bloodlands": National Socialism was not like Communism - because of Auschwitz.
read more

Tuesday 13 March, 2012

In Perfil author Martin Kohn explains why Argentina would be less
Argentinian if it won back the Falklands. In Il sole 24 ore, Armando
Massarenti describes the Italians as a pack of illiterates sitting atop a
treasure trove. Polityka introduces the Polish bestseller of the season:
Danuta Walesa's autobiography. L'Express looks into the state of
Japanese literature one year after Fukushima.
read more

Tuesday 6 March, 2012

In Merkur,Stephan Wackwitz muses on poetry and absurdity in Tiflis. Outlook India happens on the 1980s Indian answer to "The Artist". Bloomberg Businessweek climbs into the cuckoo's nest with the German Samwar brothers. Salon.eu.sk learns how to line the pockets of a Slovenian politician. In the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Navid Kermanireports back impressed from the Karachi Literature Festival. read more

Tuesday 21 February, 2012

The New Republic sees a war being waged in the USA against women's rights. For Rue89, people who put naked women on the front page of a newspaper should not be surprised if they go to jail. In Elet es Irodalom, historian Mirta Nunez Daaz-Balart explains why the wounds of the Franco regime never healed. In Eurozine, Stephen Holmes and Ivan Krastev see little in common between the protests in Russia and those in the Arab world.
read more

Tuesday 7 February, 2012

Poland's youth have taken to the streets to protest against Acta and Donald Tusk has listened, Polityka explains. Himal and the Economist report on the repression of homosexuality in the Muslim world. Outlook India doesn't understand why there will be no "Dragon Tattoo" film in India. And in Eurozine, Slavenka Drakulic looks at how close the Serbs are to eating grass.
read more

Tuesday 31 January, 2012

In the French Huffington Post, philosopher Catherine Clement explains why the griot Youssou N'Dour had next to no chance of becoming Senegal's president. Peter Sloterdijk (in Le Monde) and Umberto Eco (in Espresso) share their thoughts about forgetting. Al Ahram examines the post-electoral depression of Egypt's young revolutionaries. And in Eurozine, Kenan Malik defends freedom of opinion against those who want the world to go to sleep.
read more

Tuesday 24 January, 2012

Il Sole Ore weeps at the death of a laughing Vincenzo Consolo. In Babelia, Javier Goma Lanzon cries: Praise me, please! Osteuropa asks: Hungaria, quo vadis? The newborn French Huffington Post heralds the birth of the individual in the wake of the Arab Spring. Outlook India is infuriated by the cowardliness of Indian politicians in the face of religious fanatics.
read more

Tuesday 17 January, 2012

In Nepszabadsag the dramatist György Spiro recognises 19th century France in Hungary today. Peter Nadas, though, in Lettre International and salon.eu.sk, is holding out hope for his country's modernisation. In Open Democracy, Boris Akunin and Alexei Navalny wish Russia was as influential as America - or China. And in Lettras Libras, Peter Hamill compares Mexico with a mafia film by the Maquis de Sade.
read more

Tuesday 10 January, 2012

Are books about to become a sort of author-translator wiki, asks Il Sole 24 Ore. Rue 89 reports on the "Tango Wars" in downtown Buenos Aires. Elet es Irodalom posits a future for political poetry. In Merkur, Mikhail Shishkin encounters Russian pain in Switzerland. Die Welt discovers the terror of the new inside the collapse of the old in Andrea Breth's staging of Isaak Babel's "Maria". And Poetry Foundation waits for refugees in Lampedusa. read more

Tuesday 13 December, 2011

Andre Glucksman in Tagesspiegel looks at the impact of the Putinist plague on Russia and Europe. In Letras Libras Martin Caparros celebrates the Kindle as book. György Dalos has little hope that Hungary's intellectuals can help get their country out of the doldrums. Le Monde finds Cioran with his head up the skirt of a young German woman. The NYT celebrates the spread of N'Ko,the West African text messaging alphabet.read more